By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks ended little changed on Tuesday as concerns over the impact of steep new H1-B visa fee offset gains from auto and finance stocks on festive demand optimism and improved earnings outlook.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.13% to close at 25,169.5 points, while the BSE Sensex lost 0.07% to 82,102.1.
The rupee slid to an all-time low on the back of steep U.S. tariffs and the H-1B visa fee hike.
Nine of the 16 major sectors logged losses. The broader small-caps and mid-caps traded 0.5% and 0.4% lower, respectively.
Stocks in the information technology sector, the second-heaviest on the benchmarks, slid 0.7%, extending Monday’s 3% sell-off.
IT companies, which earn a bulk of their revenue from the U.S., remained under pressure due to concerns that their operating costs may rise as a result of U.S. imposing $100,000 fees on new H-1B visas.
Financials rose 0.1% and banks added 0.4%. CLSA named Bajaj Finance and SBI as its top picks, sending their shares 1.9% and 2.8% higher, respectively.
Bajaj Finance is likely to post mid-20% loan growth in fiscal 2025, the brokerage said, on improving margins and lower credit costs. It also called SBI a “truly valuable” stock for its steady outperformance, valuation comfort, and sustainable loan growth.
Private lender Axis Bank gained 2.3% after HSBC hiked price target citing improving earnings outlook.
“Market is focusing on domestic consumption story with GST cuts coming into effect. We are likely to see sector rotation within the consumer basket going ahead,” said Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental equity research at SBICAPS Securities.
The auto index rose 0.6%, and ended slightly below its record closing high, after clocking strong footfalls across dealerships on Monday, the first day of the local festival Navratri, which coincided with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) cuts kicking in.
Metals gained 1% after Nomura reiterated its bullish view on domestic steel sector.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
